Camels May Be Link to Deadly MERS Virus

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A potential source of the newMiddle East respiratory syndrome
(MERS) virus has been identified: camels may be a carrier of the
virus, according to a new study.

Blood tests of 50 dromedary (one hump) camels in Oman, a country
in the Arabian peninsula, found that all had developed antibodies
against the
MERS virus, a sign that the camels may have been infected in
the past with the MERS virus, or a very similar one, the
researchers said. However, the actual virus was not found in the
animals.

“These new results suggest that dromedary camels may be one
reservoir of the virus that is causing [MERS infection] in
humans,” the study researchers, from National Institute for
Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, the Netherlands,
said in a statement. “Dromedary camels are a popular animal
species in the Middle East, where they are used for racing, and
also for meat and milk, so there are different types of contact
of humans with these animals that could lead to transmission of a
virus,” the researchers said.

The study did not find MERS antibodies in blood samples taken
from closely related animals, such as alpacas and llamas, in the
Netherlands and Chile. However, the study did not test blood from
cattle, sheep and goats in the Middle East, so it's not clear if
the virus is circulating in these animals in this region as well,
the researchers said.

The MERS virus has been found to grow in cells taken from bats,
the researchers said. (Bats are also suspected to be the source
of the closely related SARS virus). However, humans do not have
much direct contact with bats, so another animal, such as camels
or livestock, may be an intermediate source, the researchers
said.

The study cannot prove that humans caught the virus from camels.
Before researchers can confirm that camels are a source of MERS,
future studies are needed to identify the actual virus in camels
and compare it to the MERS virus, the researchers said.

The study is published in today's (Aug. 9) issue of the journal
The Lancet Infectious Diseases.